The present invention relates to a flexible, twin-blade razor unit and, more particularly, to a flexible, twin-blade razor unit employing at least one embossed blade for providing improved cutting effectiveness.
Today, the use of flexible wet-shaving razor units, such as disposable razors and cartridges, has become quite common. These flexible razor units, such as the ones disclosed in commonly-owned U.S. Pat. No. 4,854,043 and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/563,926 filed on Aug. 7, 1990, represent a significant advance in the shaving field. In particular, the flexible razor unit flexes in response to forces encountered during shaving, thereby enabling the razor unit to conform to the natural contour of the surface being shaved. In turn, this brings a greater portion of the blade(s) into effective, cutting contact with the surface being shaved.
With the advent of flexible, twin-blade razor units, additional design challenges have been brought to light], For example, it has become necessary to focus on the rigidity of the blades. More specifically, unlike the prior art units in which the blades could be rigidly fixed to the housing of the unit, the blades in a flexible razor must be allowed some degree of freedom. As will be apparent to those skilled in the art, without such freedom the blades would prevent, or at the least limit, the razor unit from flexing.
However, designing the razor unit so that the blades may move relative to one another hinders the ability of the designer to provide a razor unit in which the blades are rigidly fixed to the housing. This rigidity is important to the blades of a wet-shaving razor unit in that blade rigidity decreases the amplitude of vibration introduced into such blade during shaving. Ideally, the amplitude of this vibration should be maintained as low as possible to ensure that the razor unit is providing the user with a comfortable and close shave.
In addition, it is often desirable to employ a cleaning mechanism (e.g., the one-push cleaning mechanism disclosed in commonly-owned co-pending application Ser. No. 958,407) between the blade. The cleaning mechanism facilitates the process of removing shaving debris that becomes lodged between the blades during shaving. However, the inclusion of this cleaning mechanism in the razor unit further increases the difficulty of rigidifying the blade(s).
It would therefore be desirable to provide a flexible, wet-shaving razor unit in which the blades are afforded a degree of freedom to allow flexing, yet, at the same time, are provided with increased rigidity that, in turn, provides improved cutting effectiveness. This same razor unit should also be capable of employing a cleaning mechanism for removing debris that becomes lodged between the blades during shaving.